Indiana’s longest-serving House speaker steps down, Huston assumes leadership role


Indiana’s House of Representatives saw a change in leadership on March 9, 2020, when House speaker Brian Bosma (R) stepped down from his position. Having served in the role for 12 years total, Bosma is the longest-serving speaker in the history of Indiana’s legislature.

Bosma served as speaker of the House twice, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2020. When Democrats controlled the state House from 2007 to 2010, Bosma served as House minority leader of the Republican party. He was again selected as speaker after Republicans took control of the House in 2010.

House Republicans selected Todd Huston (R) to succeed Bosma as speaker in December 2019. Huston was first elected to represent House District 37 in 2012 and is running for re-election this year. After his selection for House leadership, he worked alongside Bosma for the remainder of the 2020 legislative session in what The Northwest Indiana Times called a “kind of apprenticeship” for the role. Huston was sworn in as speaker on March 9.

The 100-person Indiana House of Representatives currently has 67 Republicans, 33 Democrats, and zero vacancies. From 1990 to 2010, the distance between the two major parties in the House was never more than 12 seats. Since 2010, Republicans have held a majority by at least 20 seats, peaking at 71-29 after the 2014 elections. All 100 seats are up for election in 2020.

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Brian Bosma
Indiana House of Representatives
State Speaker of the House
Indiana House of Representatives elections, 2020